00:00United States President Donald Trump has reignited a bitter diplomatic feud with Italy,
00:05sharing a provocative social media post mocking Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
00:09before a critical NATO summit in Ankara.
00:12Trump uploaded an image of the two leaders on his true social media account
00:16with a sarcastic caption suggesting he needed a restraining order against her,
00:20with the inflammatory post appearing on the eve of high-level security meetings.
00:24The Italian government has indicated that Meloni and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
00:29are choosing to ignore Trump's post at this time.
00:32The personal dispute highlights a deep and accelerating chill in bilateral relations
00:37which began fracturing over Middle East policy, criticism of Pope Leo XIV,
00:42and Italy's refusal to permit American forces to use domestic airfields.
00:46While Trump did not explicitly refer to it in his latest social media post,
00:50he seemed to be building on a claim of his last month
00:53that Meloni had begged him for a photo at the G7 summit.
00:57Trump said that he agreed to do so out of pity,
01:00prompting a fierce response from Rome stating that neither she nor Italy ever begged.
01:06Beyond personal attacks, Trump expanded his criticism of NATO,
01:10branding the proportion of Washington's defense commitments
01:13part of a ridiculous, non-reciprocal relationship.
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